Wire heading machine with punch and gripper anvil



3,123,846 IPPER ANVIL MOVABLE TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER Filed Aug. 15, 1960 March 10, 1964 D. H. PRUTTON WIRE HEADING MACHINE wrrn PUNCH AND GR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS March 10, 1964 PRUTTON 3,123,846

G MACHINE w WIRE HEAD ITH CH AND GRIPPER ANVIL MOVA E TOWARDS AND AW FROM EACH OTHER Filed Aug. 15, 1960 2 She ets-Sheel'. 2

INVENTOR.

DANIEL H. PRUTTON BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent "ice 3,123,846 WIRE HEADER} MACHINE WITH PUNCH AND GRTPPER ANVIL MQVABLE TUWARD AND AWAY FRGM EACH @THER Daniel H. Prntton, 5305 W. 130th St, Qleveland 3t), @hio Filed Aug. 15, 1969, ser. No. 49,509 15 Claims. (Cl. 10-43) The invention relates in general to wire operating machines and more particularly to a machine to operate on wire stock to advance it twice during each cycle of operations.

The machine of the present invention may be used in nail making or bolt heading machines and the like wherein wire stock is advanced, headed and then out ch to an appropriate length. The prior art machines generally have been cyclical in nature in that the advancing, heading and cutoif portions of the cycle have been complete and separate steps with each being completed before the next step was commenced. The feeding of the wire stock accordingly was intermittent and jerky, occupying generally one-half or less of the time of the complete cycle.

The present invention may be embodied in a machine which advances the wire stock twice during each cycle to achieve a more constant movement of the wire with the wire being advanced a first given distance and then headed or otherwise operated on and the wire then moved a second given distance and then cut oif.

An object of the invention is to provide a machine to operate on wire stock to advance the wire stock twice during each cycle.

Another object of the invention is to head wire stock during its advancement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine capable of higher speed operation.

Another object of the invention is to advance wire stock during both closing and separating movements of a punch.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wire heading machine having relatively short strokes for the nails or other wire blanks produced.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dynamically balanced machine having equal and opposite movements of substantially equal masses on the machine.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of this invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a wire heading machine embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2. is a sectional view on line 22 of FIG- URE l; and

FIGURES 3, 4, 5 and 6 are partial plan views of the machine showing the sequence of operation.

The FIGURES 1 to 6 show a nail making machine 11 which embodies the invention and which is representative of many types of wire operating machines to operate on wire stock 12. In this case, the machine 1-1 forms a head 13 on a nail 14 but other operations could be performed on the exposed end of the Wire stock 12. Also, this machine 11 forms a pointed nail but the wire blanks could be cut off with a blunt end for making bolt or screw blank-s, for example. Accordingly the nail making machine 11 is merely representative of one form which the invention may take as encompassed by the claims set forth below.

The machine 11 includes generally a frame 17 having first and second ends 118 and 19 interconnected by four cylindrical ways or members 29. A punch slide 23- and an anvil slide 24 are reciprocably journalled on the cylindrical members 2%. A crank 25 is journalled in the 3,123,846 Patented Mar. 10, 1964 frame first end 18 and has a first crank throw 26 connccted by connecting rod 27 to the punch slide 23. A gear 28 fixed on the crank 25 is driven by a pinion 29 from a prime mover S0. The gear 28 and a crank wheel 31 act as second crank throws and are connected by connecting rods 32 to the anvil slide 24. The punch slide 23 carries a punch 33 and the 'mvil slide 24 carries an anvil 34- A wire feed slide 38 is journalled for reciprocation in the frame second end 19 and is connected by connecting rods 39 to the punch slide 23 for direct movement therewith. A wire gripper ill is carried on the wire feed slide 3% for a one way grip of the wire stock 12. This wire gripper 4d grips and feeds the wire only as it moves toward the left as viewed in FIGURE 1. As the wire feed slide 33 reciprocates to the right toward the frame second end w it releases its grip on the wire 12. A wire guide il extends through the frame second end 19 and a wire guide 42 extends through the anvil slide 24 to the anvil 34. A wire stock straightener 43 may be incorporated to the rear of the frame second end 19 with the wire being fed from a stock reel, not shown.

Gripper dies 46 are slidably carried on the front of the anvil slide 2.4 such as in dovetail slots, not shown. The gripper dies 46 have head recesses 45 and hence these gripper dies 4-6 act as the anvil 34. These gripper dies move laterally relative to the axis or path of wire stock movement. Grip lever arms 47 are pivoted at 48 to the slide 24. Grip cams 49 and 53 are provided on opposite sides of the machine frame to actuate the grip lever arms 47 laterally inwardly and outwardly. These grip cams may be slidably mounted on the frame second end 19 in dovetail slots or the like. Rotary cams 51 and 52 laterally reciprocate the grip cams 49 and 5%), respectively, and are fixed on a shaft 53 driven by suitable gearing 54 from the prime mover 3d. The rotary cams 51 and 52 are geared to have one revolution for each revolution of the crank 25.

Cutoil dies, shown as pointing dies 57, are slidably mounted on the front of the anvil slide 24, and may be slidably mounted on the gripper dies 46 in dovetail slots or the like. Cutoff lever arms 58 are pivoted on the pivote 48 and cooperate with cutoff cams 5'9 mounted on the tframe second end 19. The cams 59 actuate the cutoif dies 57 through the arms 58 as the anvil slide 24 retracts fully.

Operation The FIGURES 3 to 6 show the sequence of operation and FIGURE 3 shows the machine parts in position ready to start the first step. The punch and anvil slides 24- have retracted or separated fully from their closed or advanced position as shown in FIGURE 1. With this full retraction of the anvil slide 24, the gripper dies 4-6 have been closed by action of the rotary cams 51 and 52 moving the grip cams 4-9 and 5t outwardly. Accordingly the gripper dies 46 grip the exposed end 64- of the wire stock 12. The punch and anvil slides 23 and 24 start their advancing strokes and because the gripper dies .6 are closed on the wire 12 the wire is advanced a first given distance along with the anvil 34- During the closing movement of the punch slide 23 the wire feed slide 38 releases its grip on the wire 12 so that it may advance in space by means of the gripper dies 46. The FIGURE 4 shows the end of this first step with the punch 33 striking the anvil 34- to form the head 13 from the exposed end 64 of the wire 12. Next the gripper dies 46 are opened and this is accomplished by the rotary cams 51 and 52. FIGURE 2 shows the rotary cam 51 just in position ready to efiect this opening of the gripper dies. The rotary cam 51 has a clockwise rotation as viewed in FIGURE 2 and accordingly this clockwise rotation causes inward lateral movement of the grip cam 4-9. The rotary cam 52 is 18il out of phase with the rotary cam 51 and accordingly the grip cam 59 concurrently moves laterally inwardly also. The grip lever arms 47' accordingly pivot on the frame by spring means, not shown, to open the gripper dies 46.

Next, the punch and anvil slides 23 and 24 separate from their positions shown in FIGURES 1 and 4 and move toward the position shown in FIGURE 5. During this separating or retractile movement of these sides the wire feed slide 38 moves to the left as viewed in FIG- URE 1. This is because it is connected by the connecting rods 39 to the punch slide 23. Accordingly this advances the wire stock 12 a second given distance in space. In the embodiment shown the first and second given distances are equal because of the equal crank arm throws 26 and 31. As the anvil slide 24 completes its separating or retractile movement the cutoff lever arms 58 ride up on the cutoif cams 5% to close the cutoff dies 57 and cut off the completed blank or nail 1d. The completed nail has a length greater than either given distance, and approximates twice the first given distance, differing therefrom by the amount of stock required to produce the head 13. These cutoff dies when used in a nail making machine are conveniently made as combination cut off and pointing dies to point the end of the nail 14. This step is shown in FIGURE 6.

The cutoff dies 57 open as the anvil slide starts its closing movement because the cutolf lever arms 58 will slide off the cutoff cams 59. Also, as the anvil slide 24 starts its closing movement the gripper dies close to grip the exposed end 64- of the wire 12 to thus start another cycle of operation. Accordingly it will be seen that the wire 12. is advanced in two separate steps, that from FIGURE 3 to FIGURE 4, and the second from FIGURE 4 to FIGURE 5. Each of these advancing movements of the wire stock are preierably equal and occur during both closing and separating movements of the slides 23 and 24. Thus it will be seen that during both closing an separating movements the wire stock 12 is feeding forwardly so that the wire is fed only approximately half the length of the ail in each half cycle of operations and thus the machine 11 may be operated more rapidly and with balanced movement. Also, both slides 23 and 24 reciprocate oppositely 180 out of phase to make a dynamically balanced machine.

The substantially constant feeding of the Wire stock 12 results in a much more even flow of wire to reduce the strain on the wire and on the machine parts to produce a more uniform product. The punch 33 and anvil 34, being carried on the punch slide 23 and anvil slide 2 respectively, move in the same path, and cooperate with each other to perform the heading operation on the exposed Wire end 64. The punch 33 and anvil 34 are actually closed only a small fraction of the total cycle time, and are separated the great majority of time, i.e., about 350. It is during this cycle of separation of the punch and anvil that cutoff dies 57 and gripper dies 46 are actuated. When actuated substantially at the point of full retraction of the anvil slide 24, which is the preferred point of actuation, the wire blank or completed nail 14 has its maximum length.

Two different means are shown for advancing the wire 12, the gripper dies 46 and the Wire feed slide 38. Accordingly, part of this feed means, namely gripper dies 46 are operative as the slides 23 and 24 close, and another part 38 is operative as the slides 23 and 24 separate. The combined action is such that wire 12 is advancing almost continuously, hesitating only momentarily at the top and bottom dead center of the crank 25.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by Way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. A wire operating machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a first slide having punch means reciprocable on said frame, a second slide reciprocable on said frame to cooperate with said first slide, means to substantially simultaneously advance and retract said slides relative to each other, gripper dies movable with said second slide to advance wire stock during a portion of the advancing movement of said second slide to head the wire stock against the punch means as the first and second slides complete their advancing strokes, wire feed means to advance wire stock during a majority of the retraction of said first slide, and cutoff means to cut oil a Wire portion generally at the area of maximum separation of the slides.

2. A wire operating machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a first slide having punch means reciprocabie in a path on said frame, a second slide reciprocable in said path on said frame, means to substantially simultaneously advance and retract said slides relative to each other, gripper dies movable with said second slide in advance of said second slide, means to close said gripper dies during the cycle of separation of said slides, means including said closed gripper dies to advance an exposed end of wire stock a first given distance as the slides complete their advancing strokes and to head said exposed end against said punch means, wire feed means to advance wire stock a second given distance during a majority of the retraedon of said first slide, cutoif dies, and means to actuate said cut-off dies in the region of maximum separation of the slides to cut off a wire portion of a length approximating said first and second given distances.

3. A wire operating machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a first slide having punch means reciprocable in a path on said frame, a second slide reciprocable in said path on said frame, means to substantially simultaneously advance and retract said slides relative to each other, gripper dies movable with said second slide in advance of said second slide, means to close said gripper dies during the cycle of separation of said slides to grip an exposed end of wire stock and advance same a first given distance as the slides complete their advancing strokes to head said exposed end against said punch means, wire feed means to advance wire stock a second given distance during a majority of the retraction of said first slide, cutoff dies, and means to actuate said cutoff dies in the region of maximum separation of the slides to cut 011. a wire portion of a length approximating said first and second given distances.

4. A wire heading machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch reciprocable on said frame, anvil means reciprocable on said frame to cooperate with said punch, means to substantially simultaneously advance and retract said punch and anvil means relative to each other, gripper die means to advance wire stock during a portion of the advancing movement of said anvil means to head the wire stock against said punch as the punch and anvil means complete their advancing strokes, means to open said gripper die means after completion of the heading operation, wire feed means to advance Wire stock an appreciable amount as said punch retracts, and means to cut off a headed wire portion in the region of maximum separation of the punch and anvil means.

5. A wire operating machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch reciprocable in a path on said frame, an anvil reciprocable in said path on said frame, means to substantially simultaneously advance and retract said punch and anvil relative to each other, means to advance Wire stock during a portion of the advancing movement of said anvil to head the wire stock against said punch as the punch and anvil complete their advancing strokes, wire feed means to advance wire stock an appreciable amount as said punch retracts, cutoff dies, and means to actuate said cutoff dies during the cycle of separation of the punch and anvil to cut off a headed wire portion.

6. A wire heading machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch reciprocable in a path on said frame, anvil means reciprocable in said path on said frame, means to substantially simultaneously advance and retract said punch and anvil means relative to each other, gripper die means, means to close said gripper die means during the cycle of separation of the punch and anvil means, means including said closed ripper die means to advance wire stock during a portion of the advancing movement of said anvil means to head an exposed end of wire stock against said punch as the punch and anvil means complete their advancing strokes, means to open said gripper die means after completion of the heading operation, wire feed means to advance wire stock a given distance as said punch retracts, cutoff dies, and means to actuate said cutoff dies during the cycle of separation of the punch and anvil means to cut off a headed wire portion.

7. A wire heading machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch reciprocable in a path on said frame, anvil means reciprocable in said path on said frame, means to substantially simultaneously advance and retract said punch and anvil means relative to each other, gripper die means moved with said anvil means, means to close said gripper die means substantially at the start of advancement of said anvil means to grip wi-re stock and advance same a given distance to head same against said punch as the punch and anvil means complete their advancing strokes, means to open said gripper die means after completion of the heading operation, wire feed means to feed wire stock approximately said given distance as said punch retracts, cutoff dies on said frame in advance of said anvil means, means to actuate said cutoff dies substantially at the point of full retrac tion of said anvil means to cut off a headed wire portion, and means to open said cutoff dies as said anvil means starts its advancing stroke.

8. A wire heading machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch slide reciprocable on said frame, an anvil slide reciprocable on said frame, means to substantially simultaneously advance and [retract each of said slides relative to each other, gripper die means moved with said anvil means, means to close said gripper die means substantially at the start of advancement of said anvil slide to grip wire stock and advance same a given distance to head same against said punch slide as the punch and anvil slides complete their advancing strokes, means to open said gripper die means after completion of the heading operation, wire feed means to feed wire stock approximately said given distance in direct accordance with retraction of said punch slide, and means to cut off a headed wire portion substantially at the point of full retraction of said anvil slide.

9. A wire heading machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch slide reciprocable on said frame, an anvil slide reciprocable on said frame, a punch on said punch slide and an anvil on said anvil slide, means to simultaneously drive said slides the same distance substantially 180 out of phase to establish advancing and retracting movements of each slide, gripper dies on said anvil slide to grip wire stock, means to close said gripper dies substantially at the start of advancement of said anvil slide to grip an exposed end of wire stock and advance same a given distance to head same between said punch and anvil as the punch and anvil slides complete their advancing strokes, means to open said gripper dies after completion of the heading operation, a wire feed slide moved directly with said punch slide to feed wire stock a second given distance as said punch slide retracts, cutoff dies on said anvil slide, means to close said cutoff dies substantially at the point of full retraction of said anvil slide to cut olf a headed wire portion, and means to open said cutoff dies as said anvil slide starts its advancing stroke.

10. A wire heading machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch and an anvil slidably journalled on said frame, means connected to drive said punch and anvil substantially in opposition for closing and separating movements, gripping dies movable with said anvil adapted to grip the exposed and of a wire, means to actuate said gripping dies substantially at the beginning of the closing movement of said anvil to advance the wire in space a given distance and head the exposed end of the wire, wire feed means carried on said frame and establishing one-way movement of said wire toward said anvil, the separating movement of said punch effecting concurrent movement of said wire feed means to advance said wire in space substantially said given distance to expose substantially twice said given distance of wire beyond said anvil, cutoff dies in advance of said anvil, and means to actuate said cutoff dies substantially at the completion of said separating movement of said anvil to cut off from said exposed wire a headed blank of a length approximately twice said given distance.

11. A wire heading machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch slide and an anvil slide slidably journaile-d on said frame, drive means connected to drive said slides substantially in opposition for closing and separating movements, wire feed means carried on said frame and movable substantially parallel to said slides establishing one-way movement of said wire toward said anvil slide, linkage means interconnecting said punch slide and said wire feed means for concurrent movement, a heading punch carried on said punch slide, means including gripping dies and an anvil carried on said anvil slide, said gripping dies adapted to grip the exposed end of the wire protruding through said anvil, means to actuate said gripping dies substantially at the beginning of the closing movement of said anvil slide, whereby said closing movement of said punch and anvil slides advances said wire in space a first given distance and heads the exposed end of said wire, the separating movement of said punch slide effecting concurrent movement of said wire feed means to advance said wire in space a second given distance to expose wire beyond said anvil, and means to cut ofr" the headed wire.

12. A nail making machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch slide and an anvil slide slidably journalled on said frame, drive means connected to drive said slides substantially equally and oppositely for closing and separating movements, a wire slide carried on said frame between said frame second end and said anvil slide and movable substantially parallel to said slides, connecting rods interconnecting said punch slide and said wire slide for concurrent movement, a heading punch carried on said punch slide, means including gripping dies and an anvil carried on said anvil slide, a wire guide extending through said anvil slide to said anvil, a wire gripper on said Wire slide establishing one-way movement of said wire with said wire slide toward said anvil slide, said gripping dies adapted to grip the wire protruding through said anvil, cam means to actuate said gripping dies substantially at the beginning of the closing movement of said anvil slide, whereby said closing movement of said punch and anvil slides advances said wire in space a first given distanm and heads the end of said wire, the separating movement of said punch slide effecting concurrent movement of said wire slide to advance said wire in space a second given distance, cutoff dies in advance of said anvil, and cam means to actuate said cutoff dies substantially at the completion of said separating movement of said anvil slide to cut off from said wire a completed nail of a length greater than either of said given distances.

13. A nail making machine comprising, in combination, a frame having first and second ends, a punch slide slidably journalled on said frame near said first end, an anvil slide slidably journalled on said frame near said second end, a crank journalled in said base first end and having first and second crank throws substantially 180 out of phase, motor drive means connected to said crank, a first connecting rod connecting said first crank throw to said punch slide, a second connecting rod connecting said second crank throw to said anvil slide, each said slide having a closing movement toward each other and a separating movement away from each other due to said crank throws being substantially 180 out of phase, a wire slide carried on said frame between said frame second end and said anvil slide and movable substantially parallel to said slides, connecting rods interconnecting said punch slide and said wire slide for concurrent movement, a heading punch carried on said punch slide, means including gripping dies and an anvil carried on said anvil slide, a wire guide extending through said anvil slide to said anvil, a wire gripper on said wire slide establishing one-way movement of said Wire with said wire slide toward said anvil slide, said gripping dies adapted to grip an exposed end of said wire protruding through said anvil, cam means to actuate said gripping dies substantially at the beginning of the closing movement of said anvil slide, whereby said closing movement of said punch and anvil slides advances said wire in space a given distance and heads the exposed end of said wire, the separating movement of said punch slide effecting concurrent movement of said wire slide to advance said wire in space substantially sm'd given distance, the separating movement of said anvil slide advancing said wire reiative to said anvil slide for substantially said given distance to expose substantially twice said given distance of wire beyond said anvil, pointing dies in advance of said anvil, and cam means to actuate said pointing dies substantially at the completion of said separating movement of said anvil slide to pinch off from said exposed wire a completed nail of approximately twice said given distance.

147 A nail making machine comprising, in cornbrnalion, a frame having first and second ends, four parallel rods interconnecting said first and second ends, a punch slide slidably journalled on said rods near said first end, an anvil slide slidably journalled on said rods near said second end, a crank journalled in said base first end and having first and second crank throws 180 out of phase motor drive means connected to said crank, a first connectin g rod connecting said first crank throw to said punch slide, a second connecting rod connecting said second crank throw to said anvil slide, each said slide having a closing movement toward each other and a separating movement away from each other due to said crank throws being out of phase, a wire feed reel carried outboard of said frame second end, a wire guide extending through said frame second end, a wire slide carried on said frame between said frame second end and said anvil slide and movable parallel to said slides, connecting rods interconnecting said punch slide and said wire slide for concurrent movement, a heading punch carried on said punch slide, means including gripping dies and an anvil carried on said anvil slide, a second Wire guide extending through said anvil slide to said anvil, a Wire gripper on said wire slide establishing one-Way movement of said Wire with said wire slide toward said anvil slide, said gripping dies adapted to grip the exposed end of said wire protruding through said anvil, cam means to actuate said gripping dies prior to the closing movement of said anvil slide, whereby said closing movement of said punch and anvil slides advances said Wire in space a given distance and heads the exposed end of said wire, the separating movement of said punch slide efiecting concurrent movement of said wire slide to advance said wire in space said given distance, the separating movement of said anvil slide advancing said Wire relative to said anvil slide for said given distance to expose substantially twice said given distance of Wire beyond said anvil, pointing dies forward of said anvil, and cam means to actuate said pointing dies at the completion of said separating movement of said anvil slide to pinch oil from said exposed wire a completed nail of approximately twice said given distance.

15. A wire heading machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a punch slide reciprocable on said frame, an anvil slide reciprocable on said frame, a punch on said punch slide and an anvil on said anvil slide, means to simultaneously drive said slides the same distance substantially 180 out of phase to establish advancing and retracting movements of each slide, gripper dies on said anvil slide to grip wire stock, means to close said gripper dies substantially at the start of advancement of said anvil slide to grip an exposed end of Wire stock and advance same a given distance to head same between said punch and anvil as the punch and anvil slides complete their advancing strokes, means to open said gripper dies after completion of the heading operation, a Wire feed slide moved directly with said punch slide to feed wire stock a second given distance as said punch slide retracts, and

teens to cut off said headed Wire.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A WIRE OPERATING MACHINE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A FRAME, A FIRST SLIDE HAVING PUNCH MEANS RECIPROCABLE ON SAID FRAME, A SECOND SLIDE RECIPROCABLE ON SAID FRAME TO COOPERATE WITH SAID FIRST SLIDE, MEANS TO SUBSTANTIALLY SIMULTANEOUSLY ADVANCE AND RETRACT SAID SLIDES RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER, GRIPPER DIES MOVABLE WITH SAID SECOND SLIDE TO ADVANCE WIRE STOCK DURING A PORTION OF THE ADVANCING MOVEMENT OF SAID SECOND SLIDE TO HEAD THE WIRE STOCK AGAINST THE PUNCH MEANS AS THE FIRST AND SECOND SLIDES COMPLETE THEIR ADVANCING STROKES, WIRE FEED MEANS TO ADVANCE WIRE STOCK DURING A MAJORITY OF THE REACTION OF SAID FIRST SLIDE, AND CUTOFF MEANS TO CUT OFF A POR- 